Monroe doubles land offer

Middlesex County would receive 152 acres in exchange for the 35-acre parcel of Thompson Park.

By: Leon Tovey
   MONROE — In an effort to improve their chances of being able to use a portion of Thompson Park for a new high school, township officials have nearly doubled their offer of replacement land.
   According to the final application for the diversion submitted to the State House Commission by Middlesex County and the township, the county would receive 152 acres in exchange for the 35-acre parcel of Thompson Park.
   The State House Commission will review the application and testimony from public hearings scheduled for Nov. 21 and Dec. 6 before making a decision on the swap. The proposal was initiated by township and county officials in early 2004 after voters approved an $82.9 million referendum.
   Approved in December 2003, the referendum didn’t name a specific site, and the Board of Education based its cost estimate on obtaining the Thompson Park parcel, which is across the street from the current high school.
   That location would save money on construction costs by avoiding duplication of athletic fields and parking, school officials have said. The current high school would become the new middle school.
   The county submitted a preliminary application to the state in mid-2004. In it, the township offered 77 acres — a 9-acre parcel, a 24-acre parcel and a 44-acre parcel — near the intersection of Schoolhouse Road and Route 522 (Buckelew Avenue) in exchange for the parkland, which is protected under the state Green Acres program.
   In the final application — copies of which were made available Oct. 21 at the township clerk’s office and the Township Public Library — the township offers an additional 75 acres on Hoffman Station Road.
   The decision to offer the extra land came in response to concerns by Green Acres officials about whether the original replacement parcels were equal in value to the parcel, Township Engineer Ernie Feist said Tuesday.
   Two firms hired by the county to appraise the parcels being considered in the exchange, Fleming White Appraisals Inc. of Colonia and JGT Management Co. of Woodbridge, put the value of Thompson Park parcel at $3.4 million and $3.458 million, respectively, according to the application. The assessment was based on the potential commercial value of the parcel, which is located in one of the township’s R-30 residential zones.
   When assessing the properties being offered by the township, however, the two firms based their appraisals both on the commercial value of the parcels, which are zoned R-20 residential and R-30 residential, and on their value for municipal uses. Lots in an R-20 zone must be at least 20,000 square feet. Lots in a R-30 zone must be 30,000 square feet.
   For municipal purposes, Fleming White and JGT assessed the total value of the 77 acres at $2 million and $2.137 million, respectively. Under commercial use, the values were much higher — $8.38 million, according to JGT, and between $7.56 million and $9.45 million, according to Fleming White.
   Mr. Feist said Green Acres officials have frequently expressed the need for the replacement land to be of equal or greater value to the 35 acres.
   After considering the 77 acres’ value for municipal purposes, Green Acres officials in a recent letter suggested the township add the 75 acres, which township officials had long considered offering, Mr. Feist said.
   The township obtained the 75 acres, commonly known as the Billy Warren property, earlier this year as part of a November 2004 density transfer that allowed developer Nick Pengue to build the 37-unit Sunrise Estates/Enchanted Forest subdivision at the intersection of Hoffman Station and Spotswood-Gravel Hill roads.
   The parcel is zoned R-30 residential and was valued at $1.72 million by Fleming White and $1.79 million by JGT under municipal restricted use. Under zoned use, it was valued at between $2.64 million and $3.3 million by Fleming White and at $3.19 million by JGT.
   The parcel was one of several considered for the proposed high school by the Board of Education in early 2003, when it was putting together a new referendum for a high school. Voters rejected a $113 million referendum in December 2002. At the time, some voters said they rejected the plan because of its price, and its proposed location on Applegarth Road.
   The board rejected the parcel on the grounds that it was too small; officials have said they need at least 100 acres for a free-standing high school with its own athletic fields and parking facilities. Officials also rejected the parcel because they estimated that 50 percent of the property was wetlands.
   Fleming White and JGT estimated that the parcel includes 20 acres of flood hazard zone and wetlands, far less than the board’s estimate, but Mr. Feist said that even though the board’s estimate on the amount of wetlands was off, the site remains unusable for a high school because the wetlands are spread across the parcel.